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Online Learning News and Research
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Saturday, October 09, 2004
Digital Libraries: The Catalyst to Transform Teacher Education - CHERYL MASON BOLICK, et al; AACEJ
Digital libraries are changing the way academic disciplines within universities are conceptualized. The nation’s scholars are investing their careers and millions of dollars to use technology to rethink the nature of their disciplines. These advances are affecting academic research and instruction as academic disciplines restructure in response to technologies. This article presents a framework for how digital libraries should be used in teacher education. Digital libraries are changing the way academic disciplines within universities are conceptualized. The nation’s scholars are investing their careers and millions of dollars to use technology to rethink the nature of their disciplines. These advances are affecting academic research and instruction as academic disciplines restructure in response to technologies. (0) comments
New Jersey Institute of Technology professor to develop supersized virtual library
Imagine, with the single click of a mouse a smorgasbord of reference listings consolidated from public, university and on-line digital libraries. Such an indepth reference option will be coming your way soon thanks to a professor at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Led by Michael Bieber, PhD, associate professor of information systems and co-director of the Collaborative Hypermedia Research Laboratory at NJIT, a group of information scientists and librarians received last month a total of more than $2 million in federal funding to develop computer software to create such a tool. "We're developing a supersized library," said Bieber. "Our meta information engine will automatically add links within Web pages to related documents and services, customized to your current task." (0) comments
Using Flash MX To Create E-Learning - WebProNews
Using Flash MX to create e-Learning is a comprehensive treatment on creating interactive courseware using Macromedia's popular web development tool Flash MX 2004. Authors Sharon Castillo, Steven Hancock, and Garin Hess are e-learning developers and instructional designers. Hancock and Hess have both published previous titles for Rapid Intake Press. "The thing that makes our books unique, and this book unique, is that we write from experience," says Steven Hancock. "We work with these tools on a daily basis, so we are distilling lessons we've learned down in the trenches." (0) comments Friday, October 08, 2004
The Need for Universal Design in Online Learning Environments (OLEs) - KATHLEEN ROBERTS, AACEJ
The power of the Web is in its universality. Universal design allows information and communication to be accessed by all users regardless of disability. Websites, educational courseware, and online learning environments (OLEs) are created for those who have good vision and manual dexterity. This eliminates some people, as in the United States alone, 52.6 million people have disabilities. The ability of over 30 million people in the United States is compromised by inaccessible computer design. The Web is a fundamental tool in education. Students who cannot access the Web will be limited in their ability to fully participate and obtain education equivalent to their non-disabled peers. Educational facilities must become aware of the needs and issues of individuals with disabilities so that they can develop a plan for developing accessible Web sites and OLEs. The Internet has the power to provide greater independence and participation for all users, including those with disabilities. (0) comments
Another leap for e-learning: Intelligence courses added to list - Judi Hansson, Federal Computer Week
Office of Personnel Management officials have brokered an agreement that facilitates another step forward for government e-learning by extending its reach to products and courses previously available only to the intelligence community. According to the agreements OPM officials signed with the National Technology Information Service (NTIS) and FasTrac, those services will become e-Training service providers. NTIS, part of the Commerce Department, and FasTrac, part of the National Security Agency, have provided e-learning products and services primarily to defense, intelligence and homeland security agencies. The arrangement allows OPM officials to reach more agencies with a greater selection of products and contracting vehicles that provide e-learning products. The agreement also provides wider access to the governmentwide e-learning Web portal, GoLearn.gov. (0) comments
Canadian and European universities and companies join to create Bridge-eLearning
Technomedia Training Inc... today announced, as initiative organizer, the creation of the international Bridge-eLearning group. This online network for exchanging e-Learning content and practices unites Canadian and European universities and companies who want to participate in e-Learning projects in the fields of management and technology. In addition to Technomedia, founding members include major schools and universities such as the Ecole des sciences de la gestion (ESG) at UQAM in Montreal, the Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal, and EM. LYON and INSA, both of Lyons, France, as well as leading companies such as Alcan, Bell Canada, and Desjardins Group. Through their participation in Bridge-eLearning, these partners have equipped themselves with a powerful means of supporting and accelerating the online development of their human capital by sharing strategic learning content and the most advanced e-Learning practices. Bridge-eLearning offers an environment for members to share their e-Learning experiences and provides access to a set of shared courses whose number will increase over the years. Each member organization is committed to making an annual contribution to the pool of e-Learning content. (0) comments Thursday, October 07, 2004
Using Mimio Boardcast in an Online Principles of Macroeconomics Course to Improve Student Performance - Nikki McIntyre FINLAY, Tojde
Clayton College & State University (CCSU), located in Morrow, Georgia, is an extraordinary example of a University with a diverse, highly time-constrained student body (Deis and Nakos, 2001). Only 11 percent of the students in the School of Business are between the ages of 18 – 21 while 41 percent are married. Approximately 65 percent are working full-time and 20 percent are employed part-time. Most of the students are also coming to school part-time and are not planning to change jobs following graduation. Many are returning to school after a long absence. CCSU recognizes the impact of technological change on our student’s ability to find and to keep employment. CCSU was the third post-secondary institution in the country and the first in the Southeast to require laptops of all students. As a result, CCSU is committed to incorporating technological enhancements in the classroom where sensible and feasible. Model classrooms with projectors and Ethernet connections exist in most of the classroom buildings, and certified technicians are available to help both students and faculty with computer-related issues. Most importantly, CCSU has a dedicated Center for Instructional Development (CID). The mission of the CID is to help instructors improve. While much of what the CID does is to help the faculty use high-tech innovations, the CID also teaches and encourages low-tech solutions. (0) comments
Unis in fierce battle for Asia's e-students - Jennifer Foreshew, Australian IT
Online student numbers at Australian universities have doubled in the past three years, leading to a battle for a share of growing numbers of Asian students using distance and online education. Australian universities are competing fiercely in the Asia-Pacific region, South-East Asia and China, and the stakes have been raised by the entry of other international institutions, particularly from Britain and the US. According to IDP Education Australia's report International Students in Australian Universities Semester 1, 2004, 18,670 overseas students were enrolled in distance and online courses with Australian universities, compared with about 9000 in 2001. (0) comments
Sana'a University to deploy largest e-learning project in the Middle East - AME Info
Under the agreement, Sana'a University will deploy Microsoft's Learning Gateway Solution, an advanced e-learning platform that provides a host of functions and services to educational institutions. Sana'a University is the largest university in the Middle East, and the Learning Gateway Solution will connect the students with a powerful integrated learning environment, that includes course content, online examinations and course work submission, and communication and collaboration tools. Once complete, the project will be the largest e-learning deployment in the region. 'This project marks a milestone in e-learning in the region, and Sana'a University is proud to be leading the way in this field. Sana'a University already works closely with Microsoft, and we share their belief that the use of ICT in education can make a positive difference to the prospects of students, so we are very pleased to be working with them again for this deployment,' said Dr Saleh Ba-Surrah, Rector, Sana'a University. (0) comments Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Plenty of opportunities for net-working - Jennifer Sharples, the Telegraph
This year, 74 per cent of MBA programmes in the United States reported a significant decline in international applications to their universities, according to a Graduate Management Admission Council survey. This can be attributed to the current state of uncertainty in the world and more stringent US visa regulations. The good news, however, is that online business is thriving at schools such as the University of Massachusetts, which have seen enrolment on their distance learning MBAs double since 2003. There are more than 100 universities in America offering a variety of MBAs online - which means the US is still an attractive option for students who can afford it. Some courses combine face-to-face interaction and the all-important opportunity for networking with online delivery, which are popular with high fliers, whose companies usually sponsor their career development or offer corporate backing for the institutions involved. (0) comments
ASU, UA, NAU would share courses on Internet - Nicole Saidi, ASU Web Devil
The Arizona Board of Regents has asked NAU to be the host of a new plan to create an online education package that bundles together the three state universities. The regents will vote on a new version of the potentially multimillion-dollar plan, tentatively called Arizona Regents' University, at its next meeting. The regents launched the ARU Web site in fall 2000, and it currently links to distance learning programs at ASU, UA and NAU. The regents said they want to expand the program to become a stand-alone university in which students will enroll in one of the three state schools, but take their pick of online courses offered by the three universities on the site. (0) comments
NIH funds multilanguage portal - Dibya Sarkar, FCW.com
Officials from the National Institutes of Health have awarded a two-year, $780,000 contract to a small technology company based in Jacksonville, Fla., to create a multilanguage Web portal that would facilitate better collaboration among researchers. The portal would include Web conferencing for meetings, seminars, mentoring sessions and other types of e-learning. Innovative Decision Technologies Inc. officials would also create a repository to archive and share Web conferences, text-based documents and threaded discussions. (0) comments Tuesday, October 05, 2004
E-learning and Universities: what Roberto Maragliano Thinks - Elearning Europa
Professor Maragliano, a seemingly prosaic question: does e-Learning really work? And, if it does, why is the drop-out rate for on-line training courses so alarmingly high?: I could throw the question back at you and ask: does traditional/classroom teaching really work? And how good are the outcomes? What is the drop-out rate? The problem is that we have now got to the stage where, for the vast majority of human activity, be it material (or with material effects) or “spiritual” (so to speak), the Net is here to stay. There can therefore be no question, particularly when it comes to learning, of giving up this resource, and to indulge in doubts or negative uncertainties in this regard is a luxury we cannot afford. Particularly as the linchpin in learning continues to be the book, about which you can say whatever you like but not that it is dependent upon the notion of “presence”: where is the author of the book used by the student to study while he/she studies and where is the teacher who chose that book while the student is using it to study? Admittedly the comparatively high drop-out rate for on-line courses is a problem. This is an undeniable fact but something that has to be elaborated on. And this cannot be done by ignoring other facts: e.g. that often on-line courses are not good, and are merely the mechanical transposition on-line of resources designed for other media; that many pupils are still comparatively unfamiliar with the Net; that many (on the delivery side) think that the Net is nothing more than a convenient and low-cost solution for producing and distributing learning material and (on the recipient side) a fantastic opportunity to receive texts, pictures and sounds directly on to one’s desktop. The list could go on. But the real potential of the Net lies elsewhere. Identifying and tapping this potential would be tantamount to creating different expectations in relation to the use of the Net for learning purposes. (0) comments
It's Only My Opinion: Technology is the Tool, Not the Answer - Michelle Gamble-Risley, Center for Digital Education
It has been my belief that every student and teacher deserved to have the same advantages in the classroom as any worker in the workplace. If we were going to ask modern workers, for example, to do research using the Internet, why then would we not provide a computer for students to learn to do the same thing? After all, part of the education process is to prepare students for the real world, and few of today's workers go to the library to do the research when they have Google at their fingertips. I have never believed that computers were the panacea to solve the student achievement problems. While many pundits debated the value of a reduced student-to-computer ratio and the benefits of connectivity and Internet access, I have supported this theory; but I don't subscribe to the idea it would solve all of our problems. I always saw technology as a tool much like a pencil and paper never in the position to usurp the value of the teacher and his or her commitment to teaching. I also never felt that technology took the place of teaching students the basic -- reading, writing and mathematics. (0) comments
Course blogs or subject blogs? - Marcus O'Donnell, blogsperiment
Thinking about some of the issues I raised about the WHAT of blogs, and thinking about how blogs might be best used in journalism education, specifically how they might be used in our course at UTS, I am becoming increasingly convinced that blogs used across classes over the duration of a degree course may provide a very interesting way forward. If students were encouraged to establish a blog at the beginning of their course and continued to use it to post research notes, stories and reflections throughout their three year degree this would become a unique and powerful teaching and learning tool. The blog would evolve together with (and record) the student's learning and practice experience. Then both the WHAT and the HOW of blogs becomes easier to analyse. (0) comments Monday, October 04, 2004
Online learning will soon become education of future - Shireena Al Nowais, Gulf News
E-learning is the future of education. Soon, students will be able to take their lessons at home, in a coffee shop or at the mall. They can learn anytime and anywhere. All they will need is a computer and an internet connection. Already, every student at the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) and Zayed University (ZU) is carrying a portable computer. They log on to their computers and read their lessons and do their assignments in the cafeteria or the library. A large number of people who do not have the time or money to travel are registering for online courses being offered by some of the most prestigious universities and educational institutions in the world. (0) comments
The Digital Divide (DD): A Reconceptualization for Educators - Vernon Harper, ETR
The author attempts to elaborate upon the popularized notion of the digital divide (DD). Previously, the DD has been defined as a lack of access to information technology for specific groups. This "access DD," in the opinion of the author, is an incorrect conceptualization for educators. The author then explains why educators must redirect their attention and resources to solve the more nebulous "social DD." (0) comments
Navy Launches Fleet Business Course - Navy NewsStand
Navy leaders around the fleet are now required to complete the new Fleet Business Course by Nov. 30. The course is an advanced leadership continuum that introduces a new vocabulary and culture that will help train leaders to be more effective and efficient.... The eight-hour course is available online through Navy E-Learning at www.nko.navy.mil. It is divided into three parts: an introductory video, a module on cost and capability analysis and case studies in process improvements, which illustrate concepts such as Lean, Six Sigma, and Theory of Constraints that have proven track records of success in both private and public sector organizations, including examples from Navy commands. (0) comments Sunday, October 03, 2004
Orientation Practices for Effective Distributed Learning Coursework - William Brescia, et al, Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration
As an increasing number of graduate education courses are moved either online or into hybrid formats, instructors and administrators need to consider strategies for how to transition students into these new learning environments. This exploratory, qualitative study looked at one case study course and provides practical recommendations for stronger orientation programs. (0) comments
Web Assign does its homework on the e-learning market - Daniel Pearson, Triangle Tech Journal
Web Assign, an e-Learning software company that spun out of North Carolina State University, plans to roll out a secure web browser this month that allows teachers to keep students from searching the Internet for answers to online exams, or submitting more than one multiple-choice answer at a time. If Web Assign connects with its core audience and reaches its goal of doubling the amount of student subscriptions, which run about $20 a year, the move would result in a $2,000,000 increase in annual revenue for the company. However, Web Assign has no marketing department or aggressive strategy in place to help get the word out about its new product. (0) comments
Marines earn degrees while deployed - Cpl. Paul Leicht , Marine Corps News
For some 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Marines, deploying to Iraq has been an empowering-- albeit challenging-- educational opportunity. The rather austere living conditions of a combat zone are unsurprisingly limiting, but with more Internet cafes and increasingly wired workspaces, online degree programs are realistic choices for Marines. “Despite some technical difficulties in Iraq, such as slow Internet connections and time zone differences, with some adjustment, a work schedule can accommodate online education,” said Staff Sgt. Alaina J. DioDonet, embarkation chief, Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron 3, 3rd MAW, who is pursuing her online bachelor’s in “eBusiness” with the University of Phoenix. The Houston native said she is motivated by the growth of online business and her desire to start her own business one day. Not having a family for the time being allows her more time to focus on school. (0) comments Online Learning News Blog Archives OTEL - Ray's Home Page - Notebook - UIS Online - U of I Online - UIS Home Fair Use |
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